Building a Life
by PhoenixRising360
Summary: So much more than a gift. - Inspired by and written for iheartGibbs for NFA's White Elephant Exchange 2018.


Leroy Jethro Gibbs stepped back and admired his handiwork. He smiled a little as he circled his project, inspecting every inch. Thanks to their caseload, it had taken almost three weeks to complete, but he had also sacrificed some sleep a few nights a week to get it done as fast as possible, too. He just hoped the recipient of this latest project would like it.

Gibbs grinned as a picture of Tony DiNozzo came to his mind's eye. He was already proud of his protégé, and he'd only been on his team for a few months following his stint at FLETC. Tony was brilliant but didn't seem to realize how brilliant he was. He talked a lot about well, everything, but when he talked about movies, his face seemed to light up with pride and affection, and it hadn't taken long for Gibbs to realize that Tony talked about them the way most people talked about their kids. Moreover, his ramblings about movies had inspired ideas that led to closing two cases already. Gibbs' mind reeled at that but two families had closure now and Gibbs couldn't deny those results.

What really had the Navy yard talking was that Tony had lasted longer than everyone else on Gibbs' team except Stan Burley. Tony had rarely seemed bothered by Gibbs' moods, took them in his stride, and a few times he'd even managed to make Gibbs smirk at work. Gibbs knew most people couldn't handle him. He didn't want most people to be able to handle him. He wanted the best, expected the best and most people didn't care enough to deliver their best. That set Tony far above the rest. Gibbs even looked forward to work every day just to see what Tony would say and do next.

He even helped Tony move into an apartment. The place was a little run-down, more so than he would've expected Tony to move into, but Tony had just shrugged. "Had to find someplace quick until I can take the time to look for better." When Gibbs raised his eyebrow at Tony's twin bed, Tony just shrugged and said, "It was on sale and it was comfortable."

Six weeks ago, the bed, a small table and two chairs had been the only furniture Tony had. Gibbs found an old nightstand with two drawers in the attic that he cleaned up and gave to him so he wouldn't have to use two stacked milk crates that Tony had set up the day Gibbs helped him move in. Tony had been nothing if not profusely grateful for the table, as old as it was and that was when Gibbs decided Tony needed something new, even in that crappy apartment, well, crappy to Gibbs, it is. Tony had just shrugged and said, "I've lived in worse."

Since the move, Gibbs had been a sometimes-guest at Tony's place. A couple of weeks after Tony moved in, he had tentatively invited Gibbs for dinner since he had leftovers that needed to be ate up and Tony didn't think he could eat it all and he hated wasting food. That was when Gibbs found out Tony could cook. At that point, Tony had an old couch in the living room and another shabby table to use as an end table with a small lamp. When Gibbs asked about them, Tony just shrugged. "Went to an estate sale on Saturday. They'll do for now. Next weekend I hope to find a stand for my TV so I can watch movies."

Without even thinking, Gibbs had urged him to hold off because he knew someone he thought had one he could probably get for cheap. Gibbs got him that table, and it was good enough to buy him some time to draw up plans and start building. During that time, he kept Tony busy so he didn't have time to go shopping. He made it a point to stop by Tony's place every now and then to make sure he was still using the same stand for his TV and each time he was relieved to still see it there.

Now, he was looking at the result of his plan and his gut told him Tony would love it. None of the cheap crap they sold in stores could compare to something handmade, especially not entertainment stands.

Now, he just had to transport it over to Tony's and set it up while Tony was out. He had a key to Tony's place, which Tony had voluntarily given him when he found out the landlord charged fifty dollars for a lockout and Tony didn't want to take that chance. First, he had to find out if one of his friends could help him, and if so, make up a reason to keep Tony out when they could do it.

A phone call later, Gibbs had a date, time and a plan.

Friday at work, Gibbs kept Tony on one of his older cases since they weren't working a new one. At 1300 hours, Gibbs grabbed his badge and gun.

"DiNozzo, I want a lead when I get back!"

"Where are you going?"

Gibbs glared.

"What? Is it about the case? You can't go without me!"

"DiNozzo! Do you really think I'd go without backup?"

Tony's eyes narrowed. "Sometimes, yes. I think you would."

Gibbs conjured his fiercest glare. Tony stood his ground. "I should go with you if it's for a case."

Gibbs' lips quirked in a small smile and he dropped the glare. "Just an errand, not a case. I'll be back."

Tony relaxed. "Right. On it, Boss!"

Once Gibbs was alone in the elevator, he smiled widely. That was another thing he liked about Tony. The man stood up to him and wasn't intimidated by his glare. Well, sometimes he was, but much less often than everyone else. Tony dealt with him like dealing with bastards was par for the course.

The smile faded as the elevator doors opened and he remembered the background check he'd done on Tony. Mother dead at age 8, boarding school, military academy, scholarships and student loans that paid his way through college. As far as he could determine, his father hadn't paid a dime for anything once Tony went to college. The background checks and resume and application Tony submitted to NCIS practically screamed, ' _Did it all by myself, thank you very much.'_

What he could find out about Tony's father didn't paint a pretty picture either. Gibbs suspected he was a man who was far more interested in wealth than in his only child. This theory was reinforced by the fact that on his first day as an official agent, Tony asked him if he could make him his emergency contact and by extension his healthcare proxy because he didn't have anyone to ask. When Gibbs had asked about family, Tony just shrugged and said, "My father goes out of the country on business a lot. I'd probably be dead by the time he gets back." Gibbs distinctly felt there was more to it than that, but he didn't press. Even though he was estranged from his own father, he knew all he had to do was pick up the phone and his dad would move mountains to get to him. That was comforting to be able to count on. That said, he didn't want his dad there and Ducky was his emergency contact. The silence Tony held about his dad otherwise made him suspect the man was probably more a bastard than he was.

He called his friend, Chuck, who he knew was waiting for his call and would meet him at his house and Gibbs didn't waste a moment to get there. He smiled when he saw the big F350 backed up to his front door. He thought that would be big enough and was grateful to have a friend who had a bigger pickup than he did.

"Wow, Gibbs, that's beautiful!" Chuck said when he saw what Gibbs had built. "Who'd you make this for again?"

"My partner. He got dumped and moved out, doesn't have much."

"If I break up with my wife, will you build me one?"

Gibbs laughed. "If you were that stupid, I'd build her one."

"You always were smarter than me."

Gibbs chuckled and grabbed the tools and equipment he needed and together, they laid out the plastic sheet that the furniture would sit on so it wouldn't be marred by the drive over. Once it was all secured, Gibbs drove sedately so Chuck could follow him, leading the way to Tony's place.

Chuck looked askance at the building. "This is where your partner lives?"

"Yeah, says it's only temporary until he finds something better."

"I don't dare leave the furniture alone unattended for fear someone will take it while we're gone."

"We can take it all up at once, there's an elevator."

"Does it even work in a dump like this?"

"It better."

Tony had told him the elevator only worked intermittently and that the landlord was slow to have it fixed but Gibbs paid the landlord a visit and told him if it wasn't working the day he needed it to be, he was going to his house and drag him bodily to the building to help them carry the furniture up the stairs. The guy Tony rented from reminded Gibbs too much of rats though he promised it would be working.

Thankfully, the rat kept his word and Gibbs was relieved to get all three pieces of furniture upstairs. When he unlocked Tony's door and stepped inside, he was glad to see the place didn't look that much different than the last time he'd been there. Tony had added a coffee table and the clothes Tony had piled up in boxes in the living room were gone, but that's it. Carefully, he and Chuck brought in each piece and placed it and Gibbs got to work. Because it was so big, he built it to be sectional, fastened with hinges to make one large piece and removing the screws from the hinges was all that was needed to make each piece easier to move. He hoped Tony wouldn't stay here forever.

After Gibbs secured the pieces together, they worked together to move the TV and the other electronics over to the entertainment center and Chuck hooked them up. Gibbs was glad he didn't have to. When Chuck turned on the TV and smiled in satisfaction as a blue screen came up on the TV. "It works!"

"How do you know? There's nothing but a blue screen?"

"That's the screen that shows when there's no movie in."

Gibbs grunted and after everything was set up, Gibbs looked at his watch and swore. "I gotta get back. Thanks for this. I owe you."

Chuck smiled. "Anytime, Gunny. You know that!"

He promised a six-pack and steak in the near future and headed back to work. He put on his sternest boss face and stood in front of Tony's desk.

"Well?"

Tony sighed. "I might have found an inconsistency in witness statements. I'm looking into it."

Gibbs wanted to smile. Of course Tony would actually find something. "Will pick it up on Monday. Come on."

Tony looked puzzled. "Where are we going?"

"Take your car and follow me."

"Uh, Boss, if you want me to follow you, you can't go like a bat out of hell."

Gibbs chuckled. "I'll go slow enough."

Tony looked at him warily but followed him down to the parking garage. On the way, glancing in the rear view window, Gibbs could see Tony's confusion as they drove the route to his apartment. Gibbs allowed himself to grin periodically on the way.

Tony parked in his parking space and Gibbs waited for him at the door.

"Boss? What's going on? Why are we here? Are we going on a trip? Do I need to pack a bag?"

"Come on," Gibbs said, and Tony looked surprised to see the elevator working. They rode up and Tony kept glancing over at Gibbs.

Once on Tony's floor, they stepped off the elevator and then Tony paused. "Boss? What's going on?"

Gibbs didn't hesitate. He walked up to the door and unlocked it. When Tony hesitated, he rolled his eyes, opened the door and stepped inside, holding the door open for Tony to walk in.

Gibbs kicked the door closed once Tony was in far enough and flicked the overhead light on. He stepped around to see Tony's confusion as he looked around his own apartment as if he'd never seen it before. Gibbs watched his face as Tony's eyes grew wide as they focused on the massive entertainment center dominating the far wall in the living room area of the drab apartment.

"Uh…" Tony started but his mouth fell open as his eyes took in the details. As though on auto-pilot, he stepped around the couch and approached it, his eyes taking in the details. Gibbs stepped up and looked at it as though he was seeing it for the first time.

In the center was the large open space for a much larger TV than what Tony had with shelves and nooks for the console and speakers for a surround-sound system, spaces for a DVD player and even a VCR if Tony still had one, which he suspected he did. He didn't know if Tony liked those gaming consoles, but he figured there should be enough room for one if he did. Tony didn't really mention games so he figured not.

On either side of the TV area were large cabinets with shelves designed to hold standard DVD cases and/or VHS tapes. He had measured one of each of Tony's cases the day he helped him move while Tony was in the bathroom.

Tony reached out and traced the carving of the film reel on the door of the right-hand side of the cabinet. Gibbs smiled a little. He'd spent hours one Sunday afternoon sketching that thing, trying to get it as close to perfect as he possibly could before carving it in the wood. He was particularly proud of that carving as it took longer to do that than the rest of it. It was as close to perfect as he could make it.

Finally, Tony opened the door to the cabinet and looked inside seeing the deep shelves at the perfect height for the DVD cases. He stared, looking from the top of the 8-feet cabinet to the floor. He looked at the door on the other side and noted the carving of the popcorn bucket filled with popcorn and he blinked, amazement written all over his face.

"Tony?" Gibbs said quietly when Tony seemed disinclined to speak.

Tony jumped a little. "You…?" He glanced back at the entertainment center. "You…built this?"

Gibbs nodded.

"For me?" Tony sounded almost like a little boy.

"Uh huh." Gibbs didn't hide his grin this time.

"This is…" he trailed off, opened his mouth to say more, but no words came out.

It took another moment or two, but Tony finally closed his mouth and he licked his lips. "I don't know what to say."

Gibbs couldn't help but be amused. Since Tony joined his team, this was the first time he'd seen him speechless.

Tony swallowed hard. "This…must've cost you a fortune. It's…huge!" Tony hesitated and then he looked back at Gibbs, his eyes bright. "Why?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "Why did you do this for me?"

Gibbs looked at him and held his gaze. "Movies are to you what woodworking is to me."

Tony seemed to consider that for a moment as his eyes kept being drawn back to the beautiful furniture now dominating his apartment.

He bit his lip and then took a shaky breath. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"It doesn't seem like enough. How…did you get it in here?"

Gibbs smiled. "Had a buddy from the Marines help me bring it in and set it up. He hooked up the electronics."

Tony smiled then. "Glad you left that to the professionals."

"I know when I'm in over my head."

Tony laughed and was quiet for a moment before saying, "This is probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."

Gibbs didn't know what to say to that. Tony had mentioned how great his frat brothers were, but the heartfelt way he'd just spoken made him think that maybe they weren't quite as great. Gibbs was skeptical of frats anyway. He'd heard enough about what went on in those places. He wondered how bad Tony was hazed before he was accepted, and by extension, how bad Tony had hazed those after him.

He cleared his throat. "Maybe you need better friends."

Tony grinned. "Thinking I found at least one." He winked and then his face lit up as if he'd had the best idea ever. "You gotta stay for dinner and a movie, Boss. It's the least I can do. We gotta break it in right, ya know? Try it out."

Gibbs grinned, having expected that. "Sure." Gibbs paused for a second. "No chick flicks."

Tony made a derisive snort. "I don't watch chick flicks...well, except with chicks, since they like it when a guy watches their movies with them. They love that. In this case though, I know the perfect movie for the occasion. Is takeout, okay? If I'd known you were doing something like this, I would've gone shopping for food, made something good."

"It's fine, DiNozzo."

Tony smiled and then made a call and Gibbs heard him order his favorite Chinese dishes. They had Chinese fairly often so Gibbs wasn't surprised that Tony could order his favorites without having to ask. Then again, he already knew Tony's favorite pizza, and that he liked his steak cooked medium-well and that he liked that cappuccino stuff from his favorite coffee shop.

After Tony hung up, he didn't come out of the kitchen right away. Gibbs let him have a moment to himself. He knew Tony was like him, hated to show any weakness, and he could tell Tony was touched. He walked back over to the entertainment center and smiled a little. It made the rest of the apartment look even worse but he supposed it would do…for now. He had a buddy in the building inspector's office, maybe he'll give him a call next time Tony complained about the elevator, see if that could get fixed permanently.

He heard Tony moving around in the kitchen and when Tony came back in, he was holding two beers. Gibbs accepted the beer.

Tony held his beer but looked over at the new addition again. "What kind of wood is this?"

"Walnut. Makes good, sturdy furniture."

"How…long did it take you to build that?"

Gibbs shrugged. "A few weeks."

"That's all?"

Gibbs nodded.

"Looks like it should've taken months. You work fast."

"Wanted to get it done before you bought some piece of junk."

"I'd been thinking about it," Tony admitted. "Just…so busy with work, been too tired to go shopping."

Gibbs didn't hold back the grin.

"You did it on purpose to keep me from buying anything." Gibbs admitted nothing. He just leveled his gaze on Tony and waited. "You bastard!" There was no heat in the insult and Tony grinned.

"Surprise." Gibbs' deadpanned.

Tony laughed. "Seriously…thank you. I've never had anything…this nice."

"Glad you like it."

Silence fell over both of them and finally Tony took a deep breath. "How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"How I felt about movies."

"You talk about them all the time, DiNozzo."

"Oh. Yeah, well, what can I say? I like movies. Used to watch them while my parents had dinner parties."

"No other kids to play with?"

Tony shrugged. "Nah, not really. Most of them that had kids left them at home. Those parties weren't kid-friendly."

A pang of sympathy squeezed at Gibbs' heart. He could hear the loneliness in those words. He didn't have friends so the characters in the movies became his friends. That certainly explained a lot. He vowed to himself that he would never say anything derogatory about Tony's movies, especially if they kept netting results in the way of helping to solve cases. Unconventional maybe, but if Tony could make it work, who was he to stand in his way?

"My door's always open, Tony."

Their eyes met and Gibbs read the surprise and wariness until Tony seemed to find what he was looking for and nodded. "Thanks, Gibbs."

Gibbs nodded once. "You got real plates? Don't want to eat out of the cartons if I don't have to."

Tony seemed relieved for the distraction. "Absolutely!" He went back into the kitchen and Gibbs could hear him getting plates and utensils.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door and Tony paid for their dinner and they stood at the counter fixing their plates before sitting at the small, slightly rickety table to eat. Tony held down one of the legs with his foot to keep it from wobbling and they ate in companionable silence.

At first, the silence sounded strange to Gibbs. He wasn't used to Tony being quiet, even when they were eating, but now that the surprise had worn off, Tony looked a little dazed and again, his heart squeezed a little in sympathy. He'd already suspected that Tony hadn't had much generosity directed his way in his life, but to see his face right now confirmed it. Abby had finally warmed up to him, but seeing her reaction to him reminded Gibbs that most people probably never made it even that far given his brash and cocky manner. He didn't know exactly why Abby had finally warmed to him, she'd been rude to Tony more often than not, but whatever it was, they were getting along well now and Gibbs hadn't missed the flirting between them. He wasn't sure it would progress beyond that stage, but decided it'd be okay if it did. Tony was a good man and Abby could do far worse, and probably had.

After dinner, Tony washed the few dishes they used and Gibbs settled on Tony's worn, but not completely uncomfortable, couch. Tony checked the cables to the TV and players and saw they were indeed connected correctly.

"So what's the movie?" Gibbs asked.

Tony grinned. "The ultimate story of friendship," he answered as he leaned down into one of the boxes he had in the corner and pulled out the DVD he was looking for. Tony was standing at such an angle that Gibbs couldn't see what it was so he waited patiently for Tony to put it in. Once the movie was in, Tony stopped it.

"We can't have a movie without popcorn."

"We just ate!"

"So?"

"Too full to eat popcorn, DiNozzo. Why don't I help you unpack the DVDs and then we watch the movie?"

Tony smiled. "Deal!" Tony grabbed the empty case from the TV stand and put it among a pile of other DVDs before picking up a box and handing it to Gibbs. "Set them on any shelf for now. I'll alphabetize them later."

Gibbs opened the box and looked at movie titles and realized he had T-Z already. He picked a shelf and kept them in order as they appeared in the box.

Tony didn't have as many movies as Gibbs thought he would, but there were still quite a few and it wasn't long before Tony had them set up on three of the shelves on the left. Gibbs didn't think it would take long before he had all the shelves full and chuckled at the thought.

"This is really great," Tony said as he stepped back to see how the shelves looked with the DVDs on it. "How am I ever going to repay you for this?"

Gibbs reached out and lightly smacked the back of his head. "It was a gift. You don't repay it. Housewarming," Gibbs said with a grin.

Tony almost groaned in pain. "Oh man, you just made a movie reference."

"Huh?" Gibbs looked confused.

"And of course you don't know what I'm talking about," Tony mused. "Gibbs, we have to work on your movie knowledge."

"I built this so you could watch movies, DiNozzo." Gibbs emphasized the 'you' in the sentence.

"And it will have the side benefit of bringing you up to speed on your movie education. Will start with Single White Female since you made that reference, then we'll watch Speed, since I made a comment about bringing you up to speed."

"What?!"

"Never mind, you'll understand when we watch the movies."

"I am NOT watching a chick flick."

"Single White Female is so not a chick flick…well, okay, it sort of is, but it's too dark for that...well, mostly it isn't."

"Make sense, DiNozzo!"

Tony laughed. "Okay, that was a World of WarCraft reference, but maybe you know more pop culture than I thought."

"World of what?"

"WarCraft. It's an online game, like the most popular in the world."

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Never heard of it."

"Put yourself in my hands, my padawan, and it will all make sense."

"DiNozzo, just shut up and play the damn movie!"

Tony grinned at the scolding. "Popcorn first." He headed back to the kitchen.

 _Getting roped into watching multiple movies was not part of the plan,_ Gibbs thought. He had expected to watch a movie tonight; he knew saying no tonight would spoil the joy of receiving a gift like this, and that was fine, but he was not going to make this a habit.

He could smell popping corn a few minutes later and he had to admit it smelled good. _This movie better be good_ , he thought.

"You ready?" Tony said as he came in and set two large bowls of popcorn on the coffee table, one in front of Gibbs and one in front of his spot.

"Been ready, DiNozzo."

Tony smiled and turned on the TV and pressed play before sitting down. Tony skipped through the previews and Gibbs recognized the opening track to the song 'Stand by Me' right away. That's when he realized that was the movie they were watching.

He felt Tony's eyes on him. "You seen this one before?"

"Yeah, but it's good. I'd watch it again."

Tony beamed. "When you said that about having better friends, I thought of you and…this movie. Thought it was kinda fitting…sorta."

"It is." Even if Tony couldn't voice it, Gibbs realized that Tony was thinking of him as the kind of friend he wished he had when he was a kid, like the boys in the movie. Thanks to the job, they already had a bond, not unlike the boys in the movie; different, better even because it was real and not fiction. Tony was well on his way to becoming his best friend, something he hadn't had since he was around the age of the boys in the movie. Chuck was a good friend, but they weren't best friends. It was different. Without another word, he leaned down and unfastened the laces of his boots and slipped them off, getting more comfortable, realizing that this was only the first of many times he'd do this, all previous thought of this not becoming a habit flew out of his head. He didn't look over but realized Tony was doing the same thing and both relaxed as they munched on popcorn, and watched the movie, engrossed in it even though they'd seen it before.

When it was over and the credits were running and the title song was playing, both men sat there listening to the song staring at the screen as the names scrolled by.

"I love this movie," Tony finally said.

Gibbs nodded. "Me too."

"Can…can we watch it again together some day?"

"Sure."

Gibbs looked at Tony then and he was smiling at him.

"Gonna head home, work on the boat," Gibbs said and put his boots on.

Gibbs could practically see the wheels turning in Tony's head as Tony's brow furrowed in thought. "Wait, how'd you have room in the basement with the boat for this? Your basement isn't that big."

Trust Tony to think of that. "Pushed the boat over a little. I built this in sections," Gibbs said, stepping up to it. "Look," he said, walking over and pointing to the hinges connecting each piece. "You can take the screws off the hinges and this separates the pieces so you can move them individually."

Tony's face lit up. "Oh wow! That's great. I wondered how you got that thing up here. It's too big for the elevator."

"A little cramped with all that and us, but we made it fit."

Tony shook his head, awed all over again. "This is the best gift ever," he decided.

Gibbs laughed. "See you at work, DiNozzo."

Gibbs took a step but Tony impulsively reached out and pulled him into a brief, manly hug. "Really, thanks," Tony said, his voice a little choked up. He let Gibbs go and Gibbs could see his eyes were bright and shimmery. The sight choked him up. He nodded curtly, squeezing Tony's shoulder once gently before releasing and heading out.

On the way home, Gibbs thought about Tony's reaction and replayed the conversations in his head and the significance of the movie chosen. About three months on the job and Tony was already a better partner than Stan Burley. Stan was a good agent, but he didn't have Tony's natural gifts for what they did. Gibbs enjoyed teaching Tony things he never had the patience to teach Stan. He just…liked Tony better than he had Stan. He knew he shouldn't compare them but couldn't seem to help himself. The fact that he wanted to build that entertainment center…well, that already bespoke of a friendship that Gibbs wanted to keep.

He thought about Tony's track record for staying at jobs. Tony was too good to stay still for too long, but they were building something here and NCIS was an agency Tony could grow in but settle in at the same time. He'd read between the lines to see what Tony was missing in his life, especially after Wendy walked away, maybe he could find something more here, and if he and Abby made a go of it, well, that'd be something good, too.

Gibbs smiled a little as he thought about Abby and Tony. An unlikely couple, but Tony would be good for Abby and maybe she'd be good for him, too. He found himself warming to the idea. He wanted someone he could trust to look out for Abby and he couldn't think of anyone better than Tony.

The entertainment center wasn't about just a storage place for all Tony's movies, but giving him something to help him set down roots, a place to call home. He needed that, and Gibbs realized a little poignantly, that Abby needed that. If he was honest, so did he. He thought about the still-empty shelves of the entertainment center. He wanted Tony to fill them, not just with movies, but memories, and happiness. Along the way, he was going to push Tony to be the best NCIS agent and best man he knew Tony was capable of becoming...the rest would take care of itself.


End file.
